Freerk Johannes Mulders (Amsterdam, 1911 – Mexico City, 1960), also known as Freek, Frederic or Fred Mulders, was a Dutch guitar player and journalist. He was also a brigadist in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, member of the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

, and victim of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

. Mulders introduced the

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar, but with lower action, thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, grittier sound compared ...

in the Netherlands, performed in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, and recorded Mexican indigenous music in the 1950s.

Biography

Freerk Johannes was the second of three children of the schoolteachers Johannes Mulders and Anna Wilkens. He studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

in the ''Middelbare Technische School'', a

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

. Mulders entered military service in 1932 and became a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

. After his military service he took up guitar playing.

Brigadist in the Spanish Civil War

Inspired by the music of

Andres Segovia Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

, Mulders visited

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

to study guitar. Back in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, he gave guitar lessons in a house he shared with his fiancée Milly van Duivenbode and his friends Maarten and Jan Hendrik, sons of

Jan van Gilse Jan Pieter Hendrik van Gilse (11 May 1881 – 8 September 1944) was a Dutch composer and conductor (music), conductor. Among his works are five symphony, symphonies and the Dutch-language opera ''Till Eulenspiegel, Thijl''. Life Coming from a f ...

. In 1936 Mulders and Maarten travelled to Italy as correspondent of the Dutch communist newspaper ''De Tribune''. His friend Maarten was arrested and Mulders fled to Barcelona. There he took guitar lessons with

Miguel Llobet Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and Americas, America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk son ...

while working for ''De Tribune''. The

Spanish Coup of July 1936 The Spanish coup of July 1936( or, among the rebels, ) was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic, but precipitated the Spanish Civil War, in which Nationalists fought against Republicans for control o ...

prompted Mulders to join a Republican militia to help build

barricades Barricade (from the French '' barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denote ...

around the Montjuic Castle. Because of his knowledge of mechanical engineering and his military background, Mulders joined the international group of the

Durruti Column The Durruti Column (Spanish: ''Columna Durruti''), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular mil ...

that marched to Zaragoza. In november of 1936 Mulders returned to Barcelona and got involved in the air defence forces. In 1937 Mulders was requested by general

Julius Deutsch Julius Deutsch (February 2, 1884, Lackenbach, Austria-Hungary – January 17, 1968, Vienna, Austria) was a politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria, member of Parliament between 1920 and 1933, and co-founder and leader of the ...

to travel to nationalist-controlled territory. After his return to Barcelona, he was arrested and reported to the ''Tribunal Especial de Espionaje y Alta Traición,'' a Republican tribunal for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. Mulders was imprisoned in the prison-boat Argentina. In March 1938 he was evicted from Barcelona.

Member of the Dutch resistance during World War II

Mulders moved in with his fiancée van Duivenbode in Amsterdam. The couple married in June 1938. Mulders played the guitar in theater plays and cabaret and founded the guitar association Constantijn Huygens. He was guitar teacher in the ''Volksmuziekschool'' (People´s music school). Mulders joined the resistance group CS-6 (Sabotage Committee number 6) together with other Dutch veterans of the Spanish Civil War such as

Jef Last Josephus Carel Franciscus (Jef) Last (2 May 1898 in The Hague – 15 February 1972 in Laren) was a Dutch poet, writer, translator and cosmopolitan. Jef Last was a writer and socially compassionate man. He had a Catholic background. However, he ...

, whose book ''Elfstedentocht'' ( Eleven cities tour) mentions Mulders participation in the skating event in 1940. Mulders was arrested in December 1942 and imprisoned in

Kamp Amersfoort Kamp Amersfoort (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police Transit Camp. 47,000 prisoners were held there between ...

. In february 1943 he was transferred to Kamp Vught where he joined the artists section and was able to obtain a guitar. His fellow-prisoner

Marius Flothuis Marius Flothuis, (30 October 1914 – 13 November 2001) born and died in Amsterdam, was a Dutch people, Dutch composer, musicologist and music critic. Biography Flothuis first took courses at Vossius Gymnasium in Amsterdam. There he studied pia ...

later dedicated his composition Folia to Mulders. In March 1944 Mulders was liberated. He returned to Amsterdam and worked for the resistance journal ''De Vonk.'' He divorced van Duivenbode in June 1944. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Mulders returned to his guitar career. He provided the music for the Dutch version of the theater play ''Guardate del Agua Mansa'' by

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (17 January 160025 May 1681) (, ; ) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished Spanish Baroque literature, poets and ...

, a play that was performed over 50 times in different theatres in the Netherlands around 1946, earning him the fame of having introduced classical Spanish guitar to the Dutch audience. Nevertheless, he could not get used to post-war Netherlands. In 1947 Mulders decided to travel to Chicago where his older brother Jan lived.

Guitarist in the United States

Mulders became a member of the Chicago Classic Guitar Society but soon took the opportunity to accompany a

flamenco dancer Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Murcia. In a wider sense, ...

to New York. He became a member of the New York Society of the Classic Guitar and gave a presentation together with

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

. Soon he moved to California where he joined the Bay Area Classic Guitar Society and found a job in restaurant Goya in San Francisco as cook and guitarist. Mulders, with the stage name Guido Daunic, was part of the Baroque Players, a band founded by Paul Ashford. He married for the second time and had a child. After his second divorce and in the era of

, his residence permit was not renewed because of his communist past. Mulders married again and moved to Mexico with his third wife in 1953.

Journalist and indigenous music recorder in Mexico

In Mexico, Mulders eventually went back to his profession of journalist. He published several articles in the Groene Amsterdammer. He travelled through Mexico to record indigenous music. In 1959 Mulders presented some of these recordings on English and Dutch radio. His plans to publish these recordings were cut short by a sudden illness. Mulders died in Mexico-City on May 5th, 1960.

References

{{Authority control International Brigades personnel Dutch guitarists Dutch journalists Herzogenbusch concentration camp survivors Amersfoort concentration camp survivors Dutch emigrants to Mexico Victims of McCarthyism Dutch people of the Spanish Civil War